Performance Development Review
Just a reminder that it’s PDR (Performance Development Review) time. In case you have not seen it, HR put out a communication about PDRs for 20/21 which includes links to guidance, training and demos of the electronic form.
Please note that I only have access to my own PDR form so if you need technical assistance with yours, please contact HR Systems. If your line manager/ PDR reviewer needs to be changed on Core HR so that they can access your form, HR systems can do that for you too.
FAO Non-academic staff on probation (and their line managers)
Staff that are on probation should have an initial PDR in place and complete the accompanying Probation Review form. These can be found in the bottom section of this webpage.
Grainne Wilkinson
Mandatory Training
As you will have seen on the news pages of the staff intranet, mandatory training compliance is low so please check your training and complete any refreshers or first time training required. The link to the news story, listing the training, is mandatory training.
Shonah Ion
Liquid Nitrogen tower replacement delay
There has been a delay on the replacement of the liquid nitrogen tower, the works will now begin with the removal of the old vessel on the 9th July.
Works will then begin on the 12th July breaking out the concrete plinth and recasting, the new tower should be arriving approximately 5 weeks later around the middle of August. Until the new tower is operational we will use the liquid nitrogen dispensing system in the chemistry compound.
Training on using this system is available next Thursday 1st July in 15 minute intervals between 11:30 and 12:15 and one at 10am on Friday, please let me know which session you will attend.
Shonah Ion
Building occupancy
Dear Colleagues,
The proposed changes to restrictions that were due to happen next week have been postponed, so the continuing message is to work from home if possible and only come onto campus if it is necessary. We recognise that it is necessary for some staff & students to come onto campus to complete experiments, attend in person events etc. Some limited more general working on campus can also be approved for those who find are finding home working unsuitable due to health and similar issues.
However, we are still operating under distancing and other restrictions and we need to keep the occupancy of the building low and managed to meet the Public Health requirements. This is a particular problem in multi-occupancy offices, but we also need to keep occupation of single occupancy offices low.
To manage occupancy in the Department and ensure we remain compliant with current regulations, we have designated a responsible person and booking system for the multiple occupancy offices used by many researchers & PG students.
If a multi occupancy office user needs to come in, they would first contact their line manager/supervisor and explain their request. If the supervisor approves the request they (the line manager/supervisor) would then contact the room manager and discuss the dates, time, frequency or duration of the access with the room manager, who would then book the access to allow occupancy management and social distancing.
The rooms and their managers are listed below.
| Room Number | Room Manager |
| A14 (within A15) | Sam Jones (PG Student) |
| A15 | Sam Jarvis |
| B06a | Andy Blake |
| B06b | Andy Wharton (PG student) |
| B06c | Rostislav Mikhaylovskiy |
| B504 | Jim Wild |
| C01 | Aneta Stefanovska |
| C07 | Adam Craig |
| C08 | Alessandro Romito |
| C14 | Colin Lambert |
| C45 | Brooke Simmons |
| C52 | Robert Young |
| C62 | Jonathon Gratus |
Please note that when you have to come in, you must continue to observe the Dept rules, wearing a face covering within the building, one way system and marked room occupancies. This particularly applies to kitchen spaces – please do not use these for prolonged periods, as it will block others from being able to use them.
Shonah Ion & Roger Jones.
Electroweak and Top Physics at LHCb
Online via MS Teams
Friday 2 July 2021
11:00am to 12:00pm
Experimental Particle Physics webinar
Speaker: Dr Stephen Farry
Jarek Nowak
Nanotube mechanical resonators – tiny electron forces and large electron backaction
Online event
Friday 25 June 2021
3:00pm to 4:00pm
Condensed Matter webinar
Speaker: Adrian Bachtold (ICFO, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology)
Michael Thompson